Mirsky: Censure First, Then Impeach If You Must

This is Attorney David H. Mirsky, reporting from the front lines of the 2020 US Presidential race, here in the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary State, New Hampshire; in Exeter, to be exact. As an observer of these presidential election matters (which can also function as Presidential-Removal matters when there is an incumbent president), it seems appropriate at this time to comment on the current activity in Washington, DC which has all but halted voter attention on the important matter of the 2020 US Presidential election: the impeachment of Donald Trump.

First of all, as any litigating attorney can tell you, in order to decide a matter fairly, you need an impartial jury. Since the President’s party, the Republican Party, controls the U.S. Senate, where the Impeachment Trial would take place, it is all but certain that the interests of the American People will not be fairly served in this case, as Republican Senators will be biased in favor of permitting their president to remain in office.

So, if there was misconduct by the President, what can be done?

What can be done is this: The U.S. House of Representatives can vote to Censure the President, officially disapproving of his conduct as President.

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A vote of Censure by a legislative body is an official pronouncement of disapproval. A vote of Censure would have the legal effect of placing on the record the view of Congress, and by extension the view of the American people, that what the President has done is out of bounds, off limits, wrong, and not to be continued or repeated.

The procedure of Censure would definitely indicate to the President, and to future U.S. Presidents, that the specific conduct indicated in the document of Censure is disapproved by the American people. Remember, Our Constitution by design has made the U.S. House of Representatives the governmental body that best reflects the current view of the American people, because Members of Congress must face re-election every two years, so that the people will remember what they just did in office and will take that into consideration in deciding how to vote. (In comparison, U.S. Senators face re-election every six years, insulating them to some degree from public opinion.)

By censuring the President, the U.S. House of Representatives can express in a legally significant manner the official displeasure of the People of the United States regarding the President’s alleged misconduct. There would be no doubt, for example, that a U.S, President being on the payroll of the Kremlin, or shooting someone on the street (as the President has claimed his supporters would allow him to do) are considered to be against the rules by the American people.